Industry news

With the arrival of 2023, change is on the horizon. The economic forecast calls for continued uncertainty across much of the world, creating persistent challenges while surfacing opportunities for businesses that harness the chance to drive effective transformation.

As inflation increases costs, consumers will continue to reduce household spending, and supply chains will continue to experience upheaval. Therefore, retailers must rely on digital tools to help manage and optimize their operations impacted by inflation. Following are some predictions help retailers and consumer packaged goods (CPG) producers achieve a competitive advantage.

Read more on SupplyChainBrain here.

McKinsey publishes digital transformation guidance for organisations seeking to mitigate disruption from ongoing supply chain shocks

‘New normal’ for supply chains looks nothing like the pre-pandemic ‘normal’. Stability and predictability have been replaced with economic, societal and geopolitcal shocks. 

To combat the uncertainty and disruption that has become commonplace, businesses are increasingly looking to digitalise processes and operations, with supply chain and procurement being two areas that can deliver competive advantage if organisations have the digital visibility needed to navigate the never-ending headwinds.

Read more on SupplyChainDigital here.

SAP survey shows how post-pandemic perceptions of supply chains have changed, and concludes that supply networks are more robust than linear supply chains

Throughout the past two years, there’s been widespread concern across industries that the global supply chain has become too linear and vulnerable to disruption.

With supply chain issues still dominating headlines, SAP conducted a survey to determine how consumer attitudes have adapted to understand how perceptions of supply chains have evolved after living through a pandemic. As 2022 marked a shift in consumer attitudes, the landscape is now being shaped by record high inflation rates that continue to influence expectations. The survey findings provide actionable insights into the challenges that consumers are facing, which can be especially useful for procurement and supply chain leaders.

Read more on SupplyChainDigital here.

KPMG US has acquired The Arnold Group, a Seattle-based strategy consulting firm focusing on B2B technology clients.

Founded 20 years ago, The Arnold Group specializes in go-to-market strategy development for B2B technology firms – advising on growth acceleration, commercial transitions, and simplifying customer experience. The firm’s areas of expertise include product strategy, monetization and pricing, customer and partner marketing, sales organization/process design, channel strategy and programs, and service and lifecycle management.

The Arnold Group has worked with large tech companies such as AWS, Microsoft, Dell, and SAP.

KPMG’s acquisition – which finalized on January 1 – adds all 21 of The Arnold Group’s employees, including five who join the Big Four firm as leaders in the strategy practice.

Read more on Consulting.us here.

In the face of macroeconomic uncertainty, the majority of enterprises feel cautiously optimistic about 2023 and expect to tap outsourcing resources to control costs and meet the demand for talent, according to the results of Everest Group’s annual Key Issues survey. In fact, more than 80% of respondents expect their investments in outsourcing for IT services (ITS) and business process services (BPS) to stay the same or increase in 2023 over 2022, and more than 40% are optimistic about growth in their global services budgets in the coming year.

Everest Group’s 2023 Key Issues Study comprises the input of 200 global leaders across enterprises, Global Business Services (GBS) centers and service providers. Everest Group delivered the key findings from this research in a December 13 webinar, “Rise Above Economic Uncertainty and Succeed.” 

Read more on Cision PRWeb here.

“Making predictions are hard, especially when they are about the future.” That quote, or similar ones have been attributed to numerous people including Niels Bohr, Sam Goldwyn, Robert Storm Petersen, and Yogi Berra. So, to make some forward looking predictions this year, I decided to reach out to some of my friends in the industry to get their point of views. A few common themes emerged.

Risk Resiliency is top of mind

When it comes to supply chains, risk can appear in many forms. From a pandemic that highlighted the supply risks in our stretched global networks, to cyber security breaches across our systems, and the current challenges that inflation brings to our business, the need for a risk resilient supply chain is clear to everybody.

Read more on Forbes here.

Last month’s relatively docile CPI numbers look set to finally allow the Fed to enjoy some holiday cheer. Annualized US inflation dropped to 7.1% amid somewhat lower energy costs. The war in Ukraine is still on, and yet, prices at the pump are down, and house prices are falling under the weight of higher mortgage rates. So, are we all good?

Maybe not so fast. The Employment Cost Index is now at 5% annualized and the Atlanta Fed’s wages tracker shows a 6.5% hourly labor cost increase. Press surrounding workforce dropouts, unionization drives, and stubbornly low unemployment suggest rising wage-demands are still a problem.

Read more on Forbes here.

Genpact, a global professional services firm focused on delivering digital transformation, today announced that it has earned the rank of Leader in Everest Group's Procurement Outsourcing (PO) Services PEAK Matrix Assessment 2022 for the second consecutive year. The report examines 21 PO service providers on market and industry deliverables and client interactions.

The report cites Genpact's operational consulting capabilities, deep domain expertise, and advanced technologies that provide end-to-end procurement services and enable digital transformation of client operations. Beyond its strategic sourcing and category management expertise, the company is also noted for its ability to successfully leverage a flexible operating model to support clients with end-to-end integrated risk management and analytics solutions.

Read more on PRNewswire here.

Sitel Group, providers of customer experience (CX) products and solutions, is partnering with Genesys, a cloud customer experience solutions provider, to help companies build and deploy omnichannel contact center solutions in the cloud and harness the power of digital and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.

"This is a landmark partnership for the customer experience industry and one that will empower brands to deliver seamless CX and develop deeper relationships with customers," said Olivier Camino, global chief operating officer and co-founder of Sitel Group, in a statement. "Working alongside Genesys helps brands offer fluid, effortless interactions that are faster, smarte,r and more personalized, all via an easy-to-use proven cloud product."

"Growth in digital engagement, employee experience expectations and work-from-anywhere models are transforming contact centers globally," said M.L. Maco, executive vice president of global sales and field operations at Genesys, in a statement. "The continuous deployment of new features and functionality on Genesys gives Sitel Group ongoing access to the latest innovations to remain competitive and deliver experiences where customers are remembered, heard, and understood.

Technologies such as artificial intelligence/machine learning, edge computing, virtual cloud desktops, serverless computing, automation, hybrid cloud, SASE and cloud disaster recovery are shaping the future of cloud computing.

Cloud technology is the lifeline of the latest technological progress and a new-generation trendsetter in the modern tech industry. During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, companies worldwide began applying the work-from-home model to their global workforce and implementing various digital technologies into their businesses.

Read more on Techopedia here.